In what has been a whirlwind 24-hours for the Lakers (and their fans), an official statement has been issued from the team regarding the hiring of Mike Brown (courtesy of Lakers.com):

“In response to rampant speculation and reports about our head coaching position and Mike Brown, we’ve met with Mike and are very impressed with him. In addition, we have an outline for an agreement in place and hope to sign a contract within the next few days.”

From all of us here at Laker Nation, we would like to say: Welcome to the Mike Brown Era…

Mike Brown was hired by current San Antonio Spurs head coach Greg Popovich in 2000 as an assistant coach. After winning a championship with the Spurs in 2003, he went to Indiana to be an assistant coach for then head coach Rich Carlisle.

Brown got his first shot at being the head man when he was hired by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2005 and in 2007 he led the Cavs to the NBA Finals.

In 2009, he was awarded the Coach of the Year, and won over 50 games with the team, four of his five seasons as the head coach of the Cavaliers. Brown went 272-138 (.663) in 5 seasons with Cleveland.

Since being fired by the Cavaliers in 2010, Brown has been an NBA analyst for ESPN. Brown turned 41 years-old in March.

The source close to the Lakers told SI.com that Lakers star Kobe Bryant was “surprised” by the news, and that he was not a part of the decision-making process. Bryant had been a staunch supporter of Lakers assistant Brian Shaw for the position and remains as such.

While Kobe’s support for Brian Shaw had been public; sources told ESPN’s Ric Bucher that Kobe was in favor of the Lakers hiring either Shaw, Adelman or Van Gundy. According to a source, Jeff Van Gundy had not been contacted by Lakers front office.

Shaw seemed to be the clear choice for the head coaching job as he not only played with Bryant, but learned under Phil. Either way, it will be interesting to see what direction the team goes in post-triangle era.

Thus far, the Lakers pre-mature off-season, hasn’t been much of an off-season at all. In the midst of some historically absurd whining from the Captain and the expected influx of Dwight Howard to L.A. rumors, somehow the Lakers front office has managed to address their biggest off-season priority:

Hiring a new coach.

According to the L.A. Times, Lakers owner Jerry Buss told Playboy Radio this afternoon that the organization is “very close” to concluding their search.

“Obviously, we have to select somebody who has a reputation that players would be happy with, but to ask a direct player to select a particular coach, that’s general manager territory. That’s out of the player domain.”

Ron Artest is no stranger to missing time during the regular season. In fact, the emotionally embattled Lakers forward just completed his only season of his career in which he had played in all 82 games.

Through suspensions and injuries, Ron Artest has missed, on average, 18 games per year during his 12-year NBA career. This makes it all the more interesting that Artest expects to play 82 games next year, despite speculation that there may be a lockout. In a report from ESPN L.A.‘s Arash Markazi, Artest says:

“I don’t think there’s going to be a long lockout,” Artest said Sunday night. “I don’t think we’re going to miss any games. I think there’s going to be some negotiations but I see us playing in October. I think [NBA commissioner] Mr. [David] Stern and [NBA Players Association director] Mr. [Billy] Hunter will resolve it. I think they’re going to learn from the NFL lockout. America isn’t America without sports. You wouldn’t want to be the guy who messed up sports.”

Artest has a full schedule again this summer, as he will be hosting the “Ron Artest Ultimate Comedy Tour” with stops in New York and Los Angeles. The multi-faceted defensive stopper for the Lakers spent last offseason raising awareness of mental health issues, garnering him the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award.

Two weeks after their disappointing second round exit to the Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers have formally started their search for a head coach.

According to the LA Times, the Lakers have officially contacted Rick Adelman to express their interest in the former NBA coach.

The three decision-makers for the Lakers’ coaching search – owner Jerry Buss and executives Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak – continued the gradual momentum from their meeting Tuesday in which they drew up an official list.

The Lakers aren’t in a huge rush. Interviews with candidates could begin next week, though they might not happen until the first week of June.

Adelman has had great success his 20 years in the NBA with a regular season record of 945-616 with the Trail Blazers, Warriors, Kings and Rockets. In his two stints with the Trailblazers and the Kings, postseason failures to Phil Jackson’s Bulls and Lakers were the only roadblocks in his way with potential title teams.

Adelman’s Rockets took the Lakers to seven games in the second round of the 2009 NBA playoffs, where the Lakers would go on to win their 15th title.

The Lakers, according to the LA Times, will not consider offering draft picks to teams in order to interview current coaches around the league. This means that former Laker and current Cleveland Cavaliers coach Byron Scott will not be looked at for the position.

Gasol averaged 13 points per game in the 2011 playoffs, which was a career low, and his body language screamed of a lack of confidence.

He admitted that he had some “personal issues” that affected his play, and even denied reports that his girlfriend cheated on him.

Gasol recently did an interview with the Spanish website Marca, and HoopsHype.com translated it to English. Here is what he had to say about his poor performance in the playoffs:

“It wasn’t about self-esteem. It wasn’t about confidence. I collapsed. I was exhausted a little bit too. It hasn’t been a lack of confidence.”

“A journalist from here told me that I’m an easy target. I’m polite, I’m a foreigner and I treat people with respect. Because I’m polite and a good person I’m an easy target. The lies about my personal life have affected me.”

“My goal is to help my team to win and since I haven’t done that, I have failed.”Gasol said.

Although the above may be somewhat understandable, the rumors of Gasol’s girlfriend cheating on him didn’t really come to fruition until his poor performance in the first round. Gasol shot 4 for 19 from the field, in Games 1 & 2 against the Hornets.

According to ESPN.com, the Los Angeles Lakers have placed former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach, Mike Brown on their list of potential head coaching candidates. According to the report, Brown is expected to “interview soon” with the Lakers brass.

Mike Brown has a career coaching record of 410-272 (.663). He lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history in the 2007 season, and won the NBA coach of the year award in 2009.

The Golden State Warriors announced today that Jerry West will join the Warriors as one of the club’s Executive Board members.

West will report directly to owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, and will travel to the Bay Area frequently while maintaining his Los Angeles-based residence.

West who was voted Executive of the year in 1995 and 2004, had this to say:

“I’m excited about this opportunity and, quite frankly, humbled that the new ownership group with the Warriors inquired about my interest in joining the organization in this capacity,” said West. “I’ve had the good fortune to work for two wonderful owners, Dr. Jerry Buss and Michael Heisley, as an executive and I know that you must have a commitment at the top to succeed. I sense that is certainly the case with the Warriors or I would not have made this decision.”

West, was the Lakers GM from 1982-2000, and is most famous in Los Angeles for trading Vlade Divac in the 1996 draft, to the Hornets. for Kobe Bryant.

David Brickley & Kevin Figgers are LIVE as they talk about the Lakers off-season. They ‘bring you audio from the Lakers exit interviews, they speak with NBA TV’s Sekou Smith, and take your calls on who should be the next head coach of the purple and gold!

Rundown

Who should be the Lakers next head coach: We take your calls

What went wrong this postseason? We’ll hear from the players themselves

What do Shannon Brown and Bill Clinton have in common?

Interview: Sekou Smith from NBA TV and NBA.com

A tribute to Kevin’s love for Lebron James

Pau comments on his postseason struggles and “Personal Issues”

We have exclusive audio from Kobe Bryant after Games 1-4 of the Dallas series

Laker great feels “Disrespected” by organization!

Additonal Audio

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“I don’t understand (it). It’s either an oversight or they’re taking me for granted,” Abdul-Jabbar told The Sporting News in a recent interview. “I’m not going to try to read people’s minds, but it doesn’t make me happy. It’s definitely a slight. I feel slighted. I am highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success,” Abdul-Jabbar was quoted as saying. “I guess being the lynchpin for five world championships is not considered significant enough in terms of being part of Laker history.”

So why no statue outside of STAPLES Center for Kareem? Sound off below!

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